Employment Barriers of Ex Offenders Essay

Finding Employment quickly is a priority for individuals leaving prison, and is usually mandated as a parole requirement. Ex offenders often require some flexibility in their jobs, in order to meet court ordered or parole mandates, such as drug counseling, and therapy, and to meet regularly with their parole officers. Returning prisoners also enter a competitive labor market with a combination of literacy problems, limited skills, and limited experience . Therefore they have limited access to job offering career ladders, mobility, training, or a job security. The lowest paying, lowest skilled jobs are the easiest to secure. Many make what they can of these opportunities because need to work to meet the obligations of their release. An ex offender is a person who has been convicted of criminal offense and has completed their sentence either in prison or in the community. Over 600,000 people are being released from prisons each year. Many suffer from various of serious difficulties as they attempt to reenter society. Among the most challenging situations they face is that of reentry in the labor market. Employment can be called a cornerstone of successful supervision. Employment for offenders reduces recidivism. It has been shown to be an important factor in reintegration, especially for men over the age of 27 years of age who characterize most individuals released from prison. Offenders reentering the community have a better chance if they are given enough support to stay out of trouble for the first 6 months following release. Offenders are destined for minimum wage, unskilled, menial jobs. Lack of education and job skills are the primary reasons, but the problem goes beyond that. Criminal convictions stigmatize offenders, directly limiting their future work opportunities and consequently encouraging them to return to crime for a source of income. Not only is it the predominant community attitude against knowingly hiring individuals with felony convictions, but strictly enforced laws prohibits licensing of such persons in many occupations. When you help offenders improve themselves and develop a sense of responsibility and self-esteem, employment opportunities will become more readily available A barrier is something that makes it more difficult for a person to job search or successfully complete the hiring process. Employment fills a vital need for most individuals; it provides income, social connection, and feelings, of societal contribution and self worth. For ex offenders returning to the community after a period of incarcerations, employment can make the difference between succeeding and returning to prison. (ISEEK) There are a numerous myths and truths with employing ex offenders: Myth: Ex offenders are only capable of doing manual or repetitive work Truth: Ex offenders represent a cross section of workforce. Many of them have valuable, in demand skills and qualifications Myth: Ex offenders are not educated  Truth: Nearly one in three have graduated from high school and or college Myth: Ex offenders are unreliable Truth: Ex offenders are as reliable as other workers. Myth: Once a criminal, always a criminal Truth: Ex offenders cannot prove themselves unless someone gives them a second chance Myth: Someone will always have to watch over an ex offender Truth: Ex offenders are people who paid the price for their crime and most of them want to make a fresh start. Ex offenders do not require extra supervision on the job Myth: Other employees will not want to work with them Truth: There is no need for employees other than line managers to know of the employee’s past Myth: The existence of a criminal conviction is an indication of being trustworthy Truth: Many people assume that ex offenders have basic character flaw that is not found in the normal population. Myth: Our company policy excludes ex offenders because of the type of work involved or legal restrictions. Truth: It is common misunderstanding those certain professions and certifications bar people with criminal records, just to name a few. Ex offenders have a variety of characteristics that greatly limits their employability and earnings which include limited education and cognitive skills, limited work experience, and substance abuse and other physical and mental health problems. Ex offenders face significant barriers to employment after release from prison. Barriers include employer attitudes towards individuals with criminal records, legal barriers, educational and financial obstacles, substance abuse and health issues, and lack of stable housing. The work experience that they had accumulated prior to incarceration was generally well below what it might have been in the absence of their participation in crime On top of that periods of time they have spent incarcerated have impeded them from gaining any additional private sector experience, an no doubt help erode whatever job skills, positive work habits or connections to employers they might have had beforehand. Thus, if and when they do attempt to reenter the labor market after incarceration, the poor skills and very limited work experience that they bring with them limits both employability and earnings potential. Most offenders reenter the outside world with little other than $ 40 of gate money or no money, no housing, no credit, no transportation, no driver’s license, no documents, no insurance, and no appropriate clothes for job interviewing and work settings. They also have limited access to health care services. Finding a job is difficult when you’re struggling to meet basic needs for food, shelter, and clothing. Many community based organization and support groups, such as Goodwill Industries, Salvation Army, churches and other nonprofit organization, assist offenders with such basic needs. Ron 2005) A large fraction of these men suffer from substance abuse and other health problems. Among the small fractions of ex offenders who are women, numbers suffer from depression and or past sexual abuse. All of these factors limits employability because they limit the basic job readiness that employers almost universally seek as a pre-condition for employment. Besides these skills a nd health problems, most ex offenders are minorities, nearly half are African American, an nearly a fifth are Latino and Asian. To the extent that minorities continue to suffer labor market discrimination, this will further impede the ability of ex offenders to gain employment or earn higher wages. Most return to low income and predominantly minority communities that have relatively few unskilled jobs, and to peer groups who presumably provide relatively a few contacts to the world of legitimate work. (H. J. Holzer 2003) In addition to the barriers these individuals face have little control, the attitudes and choices that they make may also limit their employment outcomes. After months and possibly years of incarceration, few ex offenders reenter society with a positive I can do it attitude. Many feel worthless, hopeless, and unwanted. Their negative attitudes are obvious to family members, friends, and employers. These attitudes affect their motivation to take action that lead to success in finding a job. They are filled with anxiety and uncertainty, uncertainty of how people will receive them, uncertain about their families, uncertain about their housing and financial situations, uncertain whether or not they will find a job, succeed on the outside or become another recidivism statistic. Ex offenders is a significant group in the labor market. It has been estimated that they constitute up to one third of the working population. At least 90 per cent of those leaving prison enter unemployment and they comprise between 2 and 3 percent of the average monthly in flow to the unemployment pool. Ex offenders re substantially more likely to remain unemployed in the long term rather taking a number of short term jobs. It is likely that a large number of these men might be able to find some kind of work if they search long enough, but at jobs that pay very low wages and provide few benefits or chances for upward mobility. Many ex offenders may simply choose to forego these employment options, in favor of illegal opportunities or more casual work. They may accept these jobs temporarily, but may not retain them for very long. Their attachments to the legitimate labor market might be quite tenuous over the longer term, both as a result of these relatively unappealing options, or perhaps because of their own estrangement over several years from the world of work. Thus, the limited employment outcomes that ex offenders experience will at least partly reflect barriers, perhaps compounded by their own attitudes towards and response to these circumstances. The barriers faced by ex offenders because of their very limited skills, poor health, and race or area of residence often reflect a difference between these characteristics and those sought by employers on the demand side of the labor market. Education is often a key to success. It frees offenders from many barriers to employment. Ex offenders tend to have low levels of education, lack many skills associated with better educated people. The poor skills and work experience of most offenders generally conflict with the skills and credentials sought by employers, even when trying to fill relative unskilled jobs. Those with substance abuse an other health problems are the least likely to be job ready, and will likely face few job offers or high discharge rates upon being hired. (Ron 2005) The federal government, as well as many state and local governments, place special legal restrictions on people with criminal records. Many drug offenders are prohibited from acquiring public housing or receiving other forms of public assistance. While employers cannot discriminate against individuals solely on the basis of their criminal record, they can refuse to hire if they can show that your background will negatively affect their workplace and business. State and local governments may include additional restrictions on certain opportunities, especially any position that deal with public safety. Finding work can be a challenge for some job seekers with criminal backgrounds. Having a criminal record can undermine employment prospects so that ex offenders are often penalized by the courts and later in the labor market. Having a job is widely recognized by ex offenders and those that work with them as the single most important factor in their resettlement and in preventing reoffending. It helps to know which barriers might be in the way and how to handle employer attitudes. Employers perform checks to gain additional information about ex offenders and checking seems to have no effect on hiring ex offenders for those employers not legally required to perform checks. Ex offenders looking for work often have a harder time than other job seekers. A felony conviction can be considered a barrier to employment. While employment is critical to ex offenders successful reintegration, prospective employers have their own set of interests when considering whether to hire an ex offender. Stoll,2008) Most employers are unaware of the tax incentives, bonding programs, and intermediary organizations currently in place to facilitate employment of returning offenders. Early work experience sometimes leads to wage growth over time, though this has not been particularly true among welfare recipients and others. Employers generally seem interested in the support system that seek to bridge the gap between ex offenders and prospective employers, but need to know more about the programs and how they fit with their needs. Although, many employers like to give a qualified es offender a second chance, they are averse to taking risks that they feel could threaten their workplace or reputation. In spite of the numerous barriers to employment of ex offenders, there is reason for some degree of optimism. Employers who had hired ex offenders reported mostly positive experiences. A great number of employers are reluctant to hire individuals with a past, citing lack of skills and work history, untrustworthiness, and fear of liability for negligent hiring, among other things. Criminal record information has the potential to present unintended barriers for offenders seeking employment. Across the country, states have provided employers with varying degrees of access to criminal record information on prospective and current employees. Advocates for limiting the availability of criminal record argue that providing such information to employers unfairly discriminates against ex offenders an makes it more difficult for them to obtain employment. Many employers argue that they should know who their employees are and whether they pose an unnecessary risk to the work place. (Holzer 2003) The United States Congress created two financial incentive programs to benefit employers who hire ex-offenders. One program gives an employer a tax break of $2,400 once an ex-offender has been hired and has worked for a certain number of hours. The other provides fidelity insurance bonds as an incentive to hire an ex-offender who might normally be considered high risk by mainstream insurance companies. These programs are often under-utilized. As a provider, you should educate your employer contacts about these programs and inform them that the State or your organization can assist them with the paperwork. Some employers have reported that they were â€Å"on the fence† about hiring an ex-offender, but the financial incentives â€Å"sealed the deal. † (Stoll 2008) Another program is The Federal Bonding Program issues fidelity bonds which serve as insurance policies for employers. Bonding protects an employer in case of theft, forgery, larceny, or embezzlement of money or property by an employee covered by the bond. The bond coverage is usually $5,000-$10,000, free for an employer, and good for up to one year. The bond becomes effective the first day of employment. Federal Bonding Program as an employer job-hire incentive that guaranteed the job honesty of at-risk job seekers. Job seekers who have in the past committed a fraudulent or dishonest act, or who have demonstrated other past behaviour casting doubt upon their credibility or honesty, very often are rejected for employment due to their personal backgrounds. Their past life experience presents an obstacle to their future ability to secure employment. More specifically, employers view these applicants as being â€Å"at-risk† and potentially untrustworthy workers. This fear is further heightened by the fact that Fidelity Bond insurance commercially purchased by employers to protect against employee dishonesty usually will not cover at-risk persons because they are designated by insurance companies as being not bondable. As a result, these job applicants are routinely denied employment. Carter 2007) Ex-offenders, including anyone with a record of arrest, conviction or imprisonment, and anyone who has ever been on probation or parole, are at-risk job applicants. When you combine figures for the US inmate population and the offender population in the free community who are now on probation or parole, the total number of persons under correctional supervision approaches 7 million individuals. More than 600,000 inmates are released from prison or jail annually. Past experiences reveal that 67% of them will be recidivists. Failure to become employed after release is a major factor contributing to the high rate of recidivism. Having a record of arrest, conviction or imprisonment functions as a significant barrier to employment since employers generally view ex-offenders as potentially untrustworthy workers and insurance companies usually designate ex-offenders as being not bondable for job honesty. (U. S. Department of Justice) There is restriction to the federal bonding program; workers must meet the State’s legal age for working. The job usually is to be for at least 30 hours per week. Workers must be paid wages with Federal Tax automatically deducted from their pay check. Self employed persons cannot be covered. A total of $5,000. 00 bond coverage is usually issued, with no deductible amount for the employer. The employer gets 100% insurance coverage. Larger bond amounts can be issued if the certified agency issuing the bonds has acquired a special bond package and has determined a larger bond amounts are appropriate.

Disaster response and recovery

The terrorists attacks are most of the time unpredicted and a country even its utmost security may become vulnerable to terrorists attack. It’s as international problem which now and then is occurring in different parts of the world. The terrorist attacks such as 9/11 terrorists attack, Mumbai, India , Hotel Taj and Hotel Oberai terrorists attack, London terrorists bombing are few examples of this centuries terror attacks around the world. Terrorism is considered to be asymmetric form of warfare and is unlawful.It targets only on destruction and harm innocent people who are important resource of the nation. If I was the disaster coordinator of the city, as soon as I get the clues of the terror attacks I would have just tightened the security near the border of the country and call for emergency. I would cancel all the flights entering and leaving the country. The next thing which I would have done is publishing the news in the media and the media would alert the people as they can take care of themselves. The media would alert people about the places of vulnerability and the suspected time of attacks.Incident command system will be notified to prepare well for the attacks. These are the immediate steps which I would have taken. Later I would have looked into the list of vulnerable areas which is populated more. Most of the terror attacks happen in the places where there is maximum human intervention so as to kill many people as possible and take revenge against the country. I would provide accessibility to shortcut routes so as to reduce the vehicle traffic congestion and avoid people pass through the vulnerable areas of attacks.They will be made to reach their destinations as soon as possible before the disaster occurs. The transport of goods will be stopped as it will be the path for the terrorists to move their goods from place to place. All social gathering of people will of people will be stopped. All the offices and the schools and colleges will be declared holiday. People in the top floors of the building are evacuated. All the people who found to be suspicious are checked for their identity, country they belong, ethnicity and their back ground.Security would be ensured near the coastal areas and security checking all the ships coming in and leaving and the checking all the goods that are transported. The oil refineries, electricity power stations and nuclear power plants are given security alerts. These when bombed or destroyed cause huge loss and may result the city as the one which had happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The city’s important monuments are safeguarded with tight security. It was daytime when Hiroshima and Nagasaki was bombed. People were preparing for offices and work. All the electrical appliances were on.It was a busy day in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and finally bombings rendered many places infertile and many people got health problems as they got expose to the harmful radiations of the bombi ng. I would ask people stop using electricity and switch off their appliances. Important people are provided with security as the terrorist may use them as hostages. I would ask media to act effectively and update people with the information of attacks and about the places which are vulnerable. I will ask them to avoid giving false information to make their news more interesting.I would make telephony and internet facilities such and intranet and ad other web based tools available for free at the moment to keep people in touch with their loved ones who are out station by calling or messaging them. Internet is one of the most reliable ways of communication in the times of disaster to mail their loved one and finding people who are missing. People will be asked to follow the instructions given by the Emergency team and Incident command system. The Red Cross people are advised to assemble the emergency kits.I would alert all the hospitals and mental health care concerns to prepare for the disaster to help people who become victims of the attacks. Health care units are informed to provide the medical facilities such as first aid, medicine and other voluntary organizations are encouraged to provide support. Rehabilitation centers are created and so the people can seek shelter. The targets of the terrorists and the potential vulnerable areas influence and affect the city’s emergency plan. It makes emergency planning team think of most vulnerable areas first.They will set priority of the vulnerable places as primary and secondary. It will make their work easier and provide full security to the places of primary concern. The Incident command system may sometimes do not operate efficiently. I think it has review the ways it operates and add most efficient ways to their current system of operation. It should plan efficiently such that their plans are turned into actions and will not remain just words. It should have better communication between its organizational parts. Its commands should be strictly followed by its organizational parts.The plan should be made on time and it should not be executed after the incident but on time. It should communicate with the people effectively and just not make people get afraid by telling consequences of the attack. But they should make feel safe and avoid false promises. The medical and health care units should be dedicated in their work and provide selfless service. There should be no discrimination on the basis race, age, ethnicity, sex and all people should be treated equally. All they can do is to They target terrorism, curb it, defeat it and make their country a peaceful place to live in.

Playstation 4 vs Xbox One

The year 2013 marked the new era of video game consoles. Sony and Microsoft, two heavyweight entertainment companies that are both fighting for the title of the best console. In one corner you have Sony’s Playstation 4 and in the other sits Microsoft’s Xbox one. Both of these are next generation consoles that use the latest technologies to give the gamer a better feel for the game that he or she plays. Both of these consoles are similar in a variety of ways but, for the similarities that they share they also contain many differences. Sony’s Playstation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox one are both two powerful consoles but, are completely different from each other before I can one I need to compare the two. The Playstation 4’s console design is similar to the its predecessor on the outside sporting a similar sleek design scheme but, this is where the similarity ends. The ps4 uses a semi custom accelerated processing unit that combines a central processing unit and graphics processing unit all in one chip. This chip is used to amplify the power of the simulation and graphics on the console. The console also holds several chips that assist in its multitasking ability and can be utilized even while the system is in sleep mode. The ps4 houses a special audio chip that can be used to support in game chat ability among other players and supports in game mp3 streaming. The console comes with 8 gigabytes of GDDR memory and a bandwidth of 176 gigabytes a second which is sixteen times the amount the ps3 had. The ps4 will contain a bluray disc drive that reads discs at 6x CAV for a read speed of 27 megabytes a second. The ps4 boasts a massive 500 gb pre-installed memory that can be modified so that user can add more whenever he or she wishes. Like the rest of the latest gaming consoles the PS4 will have wireless connectivity; an Ethernet port will also be integrated into the system to for wired connections. The playstation 4 is also Bluetooth compatible. The ps4 will support HDMI cables recognizing up to 1080p isually. The system will also come bundled with a mono stero headset and a peripheral motion detection device, The Playstation Camera. This year’s model of the Playstation will mark the debut of a a radical change to dual shock controller, the DualShock 4. The DualShock 4, being the latest in the series of controllers is well more advanced than the previous three. The basics of the controller haven’t changed much over the years besides the addition of new buttons, func tions and capabilities. The Dual Shock 4 comes with a touchscreen pad on the back, a share button that will allow user to upload videos of their own gameplay experiences, a small built in mono speaker, and a lightbar that changes color to indicate which player is which and can be used by the ps4’s Playstation Camera to determine real life movement and depth of the player. Even the select and start buttons have been merged into a single button called, options. These features aren’t included on any other gaming controller available to the public. This controller even took an Emmy for best â€Å"Peripheral Development and Technological Impact of Video Game Controllers† by The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences on January 8, 2007. In the other corner of the ring, you have Microsoft’s new fighter, the Xbox One. The Xbox One is a gaming console and all around entertainment system. This year Microsoft has decided to move away from the PowerPC chip and is now utilizing an AMD processor in this new console. The Xbox One was built with heavy emphasis on the Kinect peripheral camera device and comes with numerous functions that use this device as well. Console users can hook up their cable boxes and watch live television through the gaming console. Xbox live, the consoles signature gaming service has also been improved. Gamers will have the ability to record live footage of their game play and be able to stream that footage to certain outlets or share it with their friends online. The Xbox one comes bundled with the Kinect motion camera device and the standard Xbox one controller. The kinect will play a much more important role on the Xbox One. The kinect will integrate with the Xbox One allowing users to use functions such as voice commands, it will have different hand motions for different functions, and the most critical part is, the Xbox one will not work without the kinect attached but, doesn’t need to enter a powered state just as along as its hooked up to the console. The Xbox One controller still has the same design as the original xbox but, will have a slightly different layout and features. The directional pad has been changed to a four-way design, the battery compartment has been made slimmer, the start and back buttons has been renamed menu and view respectively. The two triggers on the controller have been outfitted with a new feature as well. Both of the triggers have independent rumble motors called, Impulse Triggers, these Impulse Triggers allow video game developers to bring vibration to controllers independently. Now both of these consoles sound great right? They both come with amazing features and do amazing things. Both the PS4 and Xbox One come bundled with controllers and devices and have loaded these devices with many features. The Playstation 4 comes priced at $399. 00 USD, comes with a 500 gigabyte hard drive, a AMD 8-core jaguar processor, and 8 gigabytes of RAM. The Playstation camera comes separately from the gaming console. The PS4 is also Bluetooth compatible. The Xbox One and the included Kinect will be priced at $ 499. 00 USD, will have a 500 gigabyte hard drive, will have a custom 8 core chip built by microsoft, and is not Bluetooth compatible. The Kinect utilizes voice commands, can detect body and hand motions and can track up to 6 people at one time. Xbox one controllers have been designed to include vibration packs in the triggers. So as you can see these system both share similar functions, equipment, and hardware specs. One of the most obvious differences is the price with the PS4 priced at a hundred dollars cheaper than the Xbox one. If I or anyone else has interest in these gaming consoles and wishes to purchase one, this information would be needed to compare the two before I can make a decision.

Alice Walker Everyday Use Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Alice Walker Everyday Use - Essay Example However, a deeper reading makes it clear that becoming â€Å"Wangero Leewanika Kimanjo† is actually a rejection of her roots. The name ‘Dee,’ which has passed down to her through the generations of her family, is more a part of her true heritage than the alien African name she has adopted (Hoel, Para. 17). â€Å"She’s dead,† she says of the old Dee (Walker, Para. 27). Dee â€Å"had hated the house† of her childhood (Walker, Para 10). Dee takes pictures of her mother and sister as if they were curiosities and includes the house and a cow, but not herself. She does not see herself as a part of their world. She takes the churner top and dasher, not as treasured parts of her past life, but as â€Å"mere things or aestheticized objects† (Whitsitt, 8), to be flaunted as artistic curios. Similarly, her desire for the quilts has â€Å"nothing to do with traditions, only with fashion† (Hoel, Para. 16). She desires them as fashion statemen ts and as hand-stitched antiques of considerable monetary value. Dee’s rejection of her family and her contempt for their way of life is a definite denial of her heritage. The modest, stay-at-home Maggie, when compared with the attractive, successful Dee, is not impressive. However, it is Maggie who, like her mother, has â€Å"an inherent understanding of heritage based on her love and respect for those who came before her† (White, Para. 3). To Maggie, the articles of their household are not inanimate objects of idealized art, or curios, but are valued as treasured links â€Å"which represent history and tradition, binding women and men to the past and the past to the present† (Whitsitt, 2). Maggie knows that â€Å"Aunt Dee’s first husband whittled the dash† (Walker, Para.52). Although she shares Dee’s estimate of the quilts, â€Å"But they’re priceless† (Walker, Para. 68), their value to her is based on her love of the people who made them.

Case Study 6.1 United Technologies Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

6.1 United Technologies - Case Study Example Therefore, United Technologies was advantaged to outsource its activities to reputable and successful companies. The government efforts and funds pumped into the sector implied that United Technologies would not use massive funds in establishing their operations in those two countries. Both India and United States of America have an extraordinary manpower. Additionally, the manpower from these two countries is known for their quantity and quality. Americans and Indians are known for their adjustability, tenacity and immense talent. Therefore, United Technologies was going to benefit a great deal from the specialized talent they would get from the two chosen countries (Margaret & Bruton, 2010). They would be giving their services to skilled professionals, who know how to do their job. In this way, there was no way the company was going to register failures and losses. Lastly, United Technologies was wise to choose USA and India because the two countries have developed infrastructures. This would make United Technologies incur minimal start-up costs. Additionally, the already established support systems implied the transition costs of United Technologies would be reduced significantly to an extent that the company would not feel the pinch. 2. The Otis unit of United Technologies illustrates differences that occur in a worldwide firm as it manages alliances. What are some of the other differences illustrated? What other issues should be considered? There are several differences that occur in firms managing alliances. These may include; strategic and nonstrategic activities of firms, among others. In order for a firm to succeed in its alliance, it must have focused strategic goals (Margaret & Bruton, 2010). It is essential for organizations to set realistic goals, as well as have an understanding of what the companion firm should bring to the alliance.

Leadership - Strategic Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leadership - Strategic Communication - Essay Example Six years later, Bill Clinton, would come out with a book as if to explain to the world what it really was. My life is a 1024 pages autobiography of a former president named William Jefferson Clinton or Bill Clinton who left his office in the shadow of scandal. Clinton tells about his difficult childhood and his political accomplishments, painstakingly registering his greatest successes and failures, which are perceived by some quarters as "trying to face and banish his private demons." Clinton grew up with a second father, the abusive Roger Clinton. But it is said, Mr. Clinton never told any of his friends what was going on at home. As he writes in his book, he has lived "two parallel lives" -- the public one everyone knew about, and a dark secret one he says he never talked about. His mother and he had made the decision to carry on, and just go on and try to make a normal life. Clinton had a beautiful wife, Hilary, whom he adored but unfortunately cheated; and an only daughter, Chelsea who was his pride. He, too, had thousands of men and women in his life, whether in politics, in domestic life, or in whatever social circle they were found. They were all there in Clinton's book - either as a loving mother, a father he hadn't seen and who had provided the puzzles he had wanted all to solve, an aunt who gifted Clinton with short letters from strangers about a father he never saw and which letter he was to hug later on, a half-brother he found too late, a half-sister he never met, a barber, an author invited for dinner, politicians from all spheres, and news reporters and authors. Clinton was able to name them all in his book, and with his photographic memory, sketched the instances when they figured in his life. Why was he doing this with a thousand pages The giant of a book is full of interesting stories about the workings of government and an insight into the man behind the news. It is a riveting account of a president under systematic combined assaults from his enemies, and how he survived and prevailed. The book is heavily a history of Clinton's ascent in politics and the trials of his presidency. Clinton describes an almost day-by-day account of his time in the White House. Bill Clinton started with a quiet life that had allowed him to study and work and read the thoughts of great men. At the age of ten, Clinton observed politics unfold in the family's TV set. His interest in the political process manifested every on while he studied in college, worked as an intern for Senator William Fulbright; joined the Vietnam War protest movement at Oxford, campaigned for Democratic candidates at Yale Law School, and ran for Congress, attorney general, and governor. Clinton had become a leader. But a fallen leader alas! Some see him as able to survive seemingly contradictions and draw them in as one. The stories he related showed some pain he had to struggle with, especially with politics which he described as "a contact sport." The strategy, the fighter in him said, was to "take the first hit, then counterpunch as hard as I could". My Life showed what counterpunch that was in terms of answering his enemies. The good-looking one had the ladies swooning over him which he could not resist, while the men from the other side of the fence gave him the opportunity to show his being a fighter. In this book, Clinton provides a different view to the loads of press releases and news he had

Customer service excellence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Customer service excellence - Essay Example This is mostly a designed plan to deliver the best to customers, and general commitment to ensure all needs and complaints are handled. Secondly, responsiveness also determines the kind and the quality of customer service (Gronroos, 2007). Most clients prefer quick response to their needs to a particular business or organization. This includes responding to their emails and calls or fixing the issues at hand. Every organization should make this their priority in order to attract and retain their customers for longer periods. Further, most clients prefer assurance from their service providers. This installs a substantial amount of confidence to them, and organization gains much trust from them in the end. Sometimes organizations find it difficult to balance their needs and expectations of clients. However, an organization can easily do this by ensuring that their main priority is to achieve maximum customer satisfaction. In my opinion, this is one of the best policies, which organizations should adopt in order to be successful in all their transactions. The reason behind this is that the customer will always leave a happy person and will surely come back again for products and services offered. Both the behavior of the individual and that of the customer affect the service quality by the end of the day. The employees of an organization must serve their clients in an outstanding manner. Customer orientation, when they are first introduced into the business, matters a lot. In most cases, they will always encounter quality services as the organizations yearn at retaining them over the years (Reponen, 2002). Secondly, the behavior of the individual determines the level of customer satisfaction as well as the value perception related to different clients of the organization. It is always advisable to ensure that all clients are attended in the best way possible. Finally, it is difficult to know and understand the

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 7

Leadership - Essay Example ept of leadership from the perspective of leader-follower exchange theory is that followers follow because they get something from being followers and leaders provide some value that benefits followers. Followers respond in ways that benefit the leader. Current approach has a few dimensions that shape the concept of leader and leadership. Leaders provide vision and direction to their followers. They provide answers to the questions, â€Å"Where are we going? What are our objectives? What are we trying to achieve?† In some cases these objectives are modest and concrete, but in others the vision is quite grand. Some authors (Collins & Porras, 1994) have described the vision as a BHAG, a â€Å"big, hairy, audacious, goal. † It is a vision that says we are here to do more than meet our numbers or to pass the next inspection. We are here, in this group or organization, for a far grander purpose. So the vision not only provides a sense of direction, it can also provide â€Å"meaning, † or an answer to the question, â€Å"Why are we here?† A second benefit that a leader can provide is security and protection for followers. This is an important function in military contexts and also in corporate and political domains. In extreme cases leaders can place themselves in harms way to protect followers. Less extreme versions of this type of behavior can be seen when executives put their own careers in jeopardy to argue against laying off subordinates, or when political leaders take risks to protect the interests of their constituencies. In hostile environments, be they military or economic, leaders place their personal wellbeing at risk to shield their followers. Through the completion of group or organizational tasks, leaders allow their followers to achieve goals that would be difficult or impossible to achieve by one person alone or by a group without the leader. The need to be effective is one of the frequently overlooked human motives. There are many goals that can only be

Motivation of Travelers on Repeat Visits to Thailand Essay

Motivation of Travelers on Repeat Visits to Thailand - Essay Example There are various reasons for what exactly tempts the travelers to come back to Thailand over and over again and this paper will discuss exactly that. Thailand is an extremely popular country for its culture, nature, cuisine, hospitality and world class accommodation and that too at a very reasonable price. But this is the present scenario, the country boasts of a rich history too. The country boasts of the two most amazing heritage sites by the name Sukhothai and Ayutthaya, the same attracts millions of visitors every year. The temples in the country also form a major attraction, so moany people come from various places to catch a glimse of various temples in Thailand. The tourists also get the luxury of riding Elephants while they see various temples in the country, this simplifies their work and it is a very big luxury which is being provided by the people of the country. There are many Wildlife Sanctuaries in the country, these Sanctuaries also attract a lot of people and three Wildlife Sanctuaries have been identified by UNESCO and the same were also declared the world heritage sites, those three Wildlife Sanctuaries are Thun g Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Huai Kha Kaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, and Khao Yai National Park. These centuries attract many visitors from all across the globe. People who love travelling always visit Thailand over and over again for more reasons than one. ... ers are the beaches in the country and people enjoy various activities on these beaches such as canoeing, snorkelling, scuba diving, yachting, hiking, and golfing. The resorts in Thailand have some of the most amazing beaches in the world and the same is a very big temptation for all the travellers. Purpose of the study The main purpose of this study is to find out what makes the travelers visit the country again and again. The facilities and the comforts provided to the travelers is amazing, Thailand offers some of the most unbelievable comforts and luxuries to the travelers. The country has many five star hotels besides that the country also provides the travelers with various options for accommodation like bungalows located right in front of the beach at affordable prices, this is one of the biggest reasons, why Thailand attracts so many travelers. It is real fun to stay in the country and the best thing is that it all comes at reasonable prices, what else a person can ask for. Thailand is also very popular and widely visited because it is also the right place to do shopping, the stores in the country offered up to 80% discounts during the Amazing Thailand Grand Sales promotion. To make sure that the country sustains the inflow of travellers it is very important to understand the motive of the travellers, they should not only come once to the country but also over and over again and for this to happen the concerned people of the country have to understand the motive of the travellers. When the concerned people design promotional material to attract the travellers it is extremely important to keep in mind their motive of travelling, if that is ignored then no traveller will come again to that particular country. Motivation is very closely connected to the

Augusta Nationals Two Female Members Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Augusta Nationals Two Female Members - Essay Example The Augusta National Golf Club has shown gender discrimination throughout its history by allowing none of its almost 300 members to be a woman until recently, when the Cub took an action long overdue on it by announcing Condoleezza Rice, the former US Secretary of State, and Darla Moore, the South Carolina financier to be its members. The Club was also publicly pressured by Martha Burk, the women’s rights activist in the year 2001 to allow membership to women, but Hootie Johnson, the chairman of the Club at that time said in response that the Club might alter its policy one day â€Å"but not at the point of a bayonet† (Johnson cited in Tyler). When Bubba Watson joined the Augusta National Golf Club’s tradition of wearing the green jacket upon winning the Masters Golf Tournament, the celebrations were tarnished by the exclusive discrimination displayed by the Club towards the women. One of the lawyers said that the implications of this discrimination could be broader and extend to all working women. The Augusta National Golf Club has been disreputable for a long time in history because of its disallowance for women to become its members. â€Å"The fathers and sons of Augusta know full well that they have built for themselves not just a golf course but one of the great corridors of power in America, and with chests fully puffed, have fiercely and proudly denied women access to those corridors† (Brennan).... In addition to that, all of the past IBM CEOs had served as the Club’s members. The only factor that differed this time was that the CEO was a woman unlike the past CEO members who were all men. Payne retreated the discussion and Rometty did not wear the green jacket to symbolize the club’s membership over the weekend. David Scher, the Employment Law Group’s attorney expected the effects of the exclusive policy of the Augusta National Golf Club to reach all working women. He said, â€Å"This is not the only place that this is happening. Free association allows all kinds of clubs, but there are lots of men's organizations that keep women out of the workforce and it is really time for that to change† (Scher cited in Mielach). 21st century is the time for the discrimination to recede, be that against races or genders. Discriminatory policies do not help any organization holding it, but just serves to complicate things for certain members of the society. †Å"Playing golf and other pastimes is integral to the business world, and outright discrimination against women in the private golf world, although technically legal, can have a severe and lasting illegal impact in the workplace† (Scher cited in Mielach). Grant of the Augusta National Golf Club’s membership to two women in this year is a very big milestone in the way of realization of the equality of genders and will have far-reaching effects for all women in the society and bring a positive revolutionary change in the acceptability of women in the business world in general and the sports in particular. Something like selection of women members for the first time since the establishment of a prestigious club will have an effect on the policies of similar

Dworkin and legal positivists seek to provide guidelines for impartial Essay

Dworkin and legal positivists seek to provide guidelines for impartial judicial decision making, but do so in different ways and with different results. Discu - Essay Example non-Dworkian sense implies that the legal validity of a given norm, and hence whether it forms part of the law of that system, depends on its sources, not its merits. This paper discusses the jurisprudential basis of impartiality in judicial decision-making based on the theory of Dworkin and juxtaposing the same with another contemporaneous legal positivist, Professor H.L.A Hart. Dworkin, in his paper ‘The Model of Rules’, identifies and attributes to Hart a four-fold doctrine:2 (1) that law consists of ‘rules’ (understood as legal standards that differ from what Dworkin calls ‘principles’); (2) that legal rules are identified via a ‘rule of recognition’; (3) that where a rule does not control a case, judges have discretion; and (4) that in those cases where judges have discretion, neither party has a pre-existing legal right to prevail. Dworkin rejects the merit of all these four doctrines, but for the purposes of the present essay we shall limit our discussion to the last two of these four doctrines identified by Dworkin. The purpose of this essay in so far as it attempts to juxtapose Dworkin’s theory with Hart’s, shall be better served if prefaced by a brief survey of how Hart perceived the impact of judicial discretion on law-making. The variance in the two approach is best illustrated by taking as an example the ‘hard cases’ to be decided by a court of law- that is, cases which have a uniquely singular problem which has not be covered by the text of the relevant statute or which it is abundantly clear has never come within the contemplation of the legislature. Hart has consistently taken the view that, as a conceptual matter, what constitutes a question of law as ‘hard’ is that the pre-existing law is substantively indeterminate with respect to that question and is insufficient to determine a uniquely correct answer.3 Hard cases, therefore, arise because there is a gap or vacuum in the coverage of pre-existing law. Since, in such

Chapters 15 20 Questions Answers Essay Example for Free

Chapters 15 20 Questions Answers Essay 1. In Chapter 15, Amir meets with the dying Rahim Khan. Where are they? Peshawar, Pakistan 2. What does Amir say about cliches? Why does Amir use the cliche about an elephant in the room to describe his meeting with Rahim Khan? They are usually dead on. The elephant is the truth about Rahim Khan’s condition – he is dying and doesn’t have much time left. 3. Afghanistan has been seized by what political group in Chapter 15? Taliban 4. In Chapter 16, Rahim tells us what happened to Hassan. What has happened? Where is he living? Hassan went to live in a village just outside Bamiyan where. Rahim Khan finds Hassan, who tells him that Ali was killed by a landmine. Rahim Khan asks Hassan and his wife, Farzana, to live with him. Hassan at first refuses, but agrees after learning of Baba’s death. Their first baby was a stillborn girl. Hassan’s mother, Sanaubar, returns to the home, starving and ill. Hassan and his wife nurse his mother back to health. She in turn delivers Farzana’s son, Sohrab. Sanaubar dies when Sohrab is four. 5. Who is Farzana? Who is Sohrab? Farzana is Hassan’s wife. Sohrab is their son. 6. What happened in 1998 by the Taliban in Mazar-i-Sharif ? The Taliban massacred many Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif. 7. In Chapter 17, Rahim gives Amir a letter from Hassan, who wrote it six months before. What is the tone of this letter? How does Amir react? Hassan is the same old Hassan; a loyal friend who is concerned about Amir. Hassan wrote the letter with excitement and pride. Hassan says he would like to see Amir again. Rahim Khan reveals, however, that Hassan and his wife were murdered by the Taliban a month after the letter was written. Their son, Sohrab, is now living in an orphanage in Kabul. 8. In Chapter 18, Amir finds out that both Hassan and his wife were shot by the Taliban while trying to protect Babas house, as a result, orphaning their son. Rahim tells Amir it is his job to find Sohrab in Karteh-Seh, Afghanistan, and take him to an orphanage in Peshawar, Pakistan. What is Amirs reaction? Do you think Rahims dying wish is unfair? Why or why not? Amir’s reaction is of shock and anger. He doesn’t understand why no one told him this before. Rahim’s wish is not unfair – this is how Amir will remove the guilt and pay back Hassan for what Amir never did in the alleyway years ago. 9. How does the cliche, like father, like son mentioned on page 238, relate to Baba and Amir? Baba and Amir were more alike than he’d ever known. â€Å"We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us. And with that came this realization: that Rahim Khan has summoned me here to atone not just for my sins but for Baba’s too. † (209) 10. What clues hint at the secret that is revealed in Chapter 17-18? Baba had always been so close to Hassan and it makes sense now why he loves Hassan so much. (forgiveness of â€Å"theft†, cleft lip, threatened Amir over the â€Å"new servants† comment, bought the same gifts for Hassan and Amir (kite) – treated them equally, wishes Hassan was here (in America), etc.) 11. In Chapter 19, Farid is engaged to drive Amir from Peshawar to Afghanistan. Describe his first impression of Amir. When Farid said, Youve always been a tourist here, you just didnt know it, (page 245), what did he mean? What is Farids impression of emigrant Afghans who return to visit Afghanistan? Many are shocked at the changes in Afghanistan. They are like tourists in the country, considering the many horrible changes that have taken place. Farid believes that Amir has always been a tourist. Amir has only known a better Afghanistan. Afghanis only come back to sell their land and leave again. 12. What realization does Amir come to in Chapter 19? Amir realizes his life has been a lie all along. Baba favored Hassan in the past – Amir realizes this as a sign that Hassan is his half-brother. He also realizes he must leave to help Sohrab right away before he talks himself out of going. This was his last chance at redemption. (195) 13. In Chapter 20, Amir sees Kabul for the first time since leaving. Describe what he sees. Amir is shocked by the state of Afghanistan. On arriving in Kabul he discovers it has been severely damaged by twenty years of war. The Taliban patrol the streets looking for people to punish. Amir is advised to avoid even looking at them. Amir feels pain and sadness at what he sees. 14. In Chapter 20, the director of the orphanage, Zaman, tells Amir that Sohrab was taken by a Taliban official who takes children, usually girls, about once a month for his sexual pleasure. The official gave Zaman a great deal of cash. How does Zaman defend his actions? He has so many other children he must take care of. If he were not there, they would starve and die. If Zaman refuses, it could destroy the orphanage and save others from being taken and/or killed. The money also provides for their needs (i. e. food. ).

Needs Assessment And Its Analytic Tools Information Technology Essay

Needs Assessment And Its Analytic Tools Information Technology Essay This report is based on research onto Needs assessment and its analytic tools. In addition, this paper critically examines the nature and role of needs assessment as a tool in consulting practice. Needs Assessment A Needs Assessment is a systematic exploration of the way things are and the way they should be. These things are usually associated with organizational and/or individual performance (Stout, 1995). A needs assessment should be designed to identify and prioritize needs, while a need analysis should break and identified need into its component parts and determine solution requirement. Practical and pragmatic needs assessments provide a process for identifying and prioritizing gaps between current and desired results (Kaufman, 1979). Need Assessment is defined as an investigation, undertaken to determine the nature of performance problems in order to establish the underlying causes and the way in which training can be addressed. Goldstein (1993) describes need assessment as the phase of the instructional process that provides the information necessary to design the entire program. A training gap is defined as the difference between the required standard of the job and incumbents performance. Need identification is the starting point in any training and development activity. Need identification or assessment is not a routine function, because it should conduct carefully and in a diagnostic manner. The assessment begins with a need which can be identified in several ways but is generally described as a gap between what is currently in place and what is needed, now and in the future. The purpose of a training needs assessment is to identify performance requirements or needs within an organization in order to help direct resources to the areas of greatest need, those that closely relate to fulfilling the organizational goals and objectives, improving productivity and providing quality products and services. Indeed, there are various reasons why needs assessment is not conducted as it is described as being a difficult process, time consuming and lack of resources in carrying out the tasks (Miller Osinski, 1996). On the other hand, Desimone and Werner (2002) argued that incorrect assumptions are usually made about needs analysis being unnecessary because the available information already specifies what an organizations needs are. According to Miller and Osinski (1996) the needs as sessment is the first step in the establishment of a training and development Program. It is used as the foundation for determining instructional objectives, the selection and design of instructional programs, the implementation of the programs and the evaluation of the training provided. These processes form a continuous cycle which always begins with a needs assessment. A needs assessment is a systematic methodology used to locate the need before we intervene with the solution. The assessment helps us to locate the gaps in the plan of action or the existing strategy and helps us manage at the micro and macro levels. A needs assessment is carried out for an individual, an organization, team and even society issues. Some of the scenarios where needs assessment is widely used are organization development, disease outbreak, war/terrorism, drug abuse, poverty, sports etc. Needs assessment gives us a fair amount of insights about the situation that we are dealing with, before we go ahead and intervene. Gap could be easily determined with the use of analytical tools possessed by Needs assessment. They are used to identify strategic priorities, define results to be accomplished, guide decision related to actions considered and creates an evaluation criterion to judge the success and also have continual improvement within the organization (Stout, 1995). Models of Needs Assessment There are plenty of different models proposed by the eminent researchers. Needs assessment models are based on the variety of profession and applications. All the different models and a small description of these models are mentioned below: Arthurs Performance Evaluation Matrix: (Arthur, L.1993. Improving Software Quality. New York: John Wiley and Sons) The context of Arthurs Performance Evaluation Matrix is usually used for the development or improvement of softwares. Bottom to top assessment is what this model emphasizes on. The assessment begins with very end-users such as the customers and suppliers. The model deals with identifying the defects created in the cycle and usage of data to identify the causes of the defects. It does not answer the society or the organizational results, but focuses on the development and improvement of their products (Anonymous, Models, n.d) Burton and Merrills Four Phase Model: (Burton, J. Merrill, P. 1998, Needs Assessment: Goals, Needs And Priorities) Internal and External factors are recognized by this four phase model.   Additionally, this model focuses on the application of needs assessment in the development of instructional materials at the level of a course and intentionally does not address societal and organizational results.   It avoids the society and the organizational results, because the authors Burton and Merill believe that their assessment tool helps in development of instructional materials (Anonymous, Models, n.d). Gilberts Performance Matrix: (Gilbert, T. 1978, Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance) The Performance Matrix, provided by Gilbert focuses on the process improvement. He provides two types of performance matrix, a Full scale model and a truncated version. The author believes that any research on performance needs to be carried out at the higher level. The author begins his discussion at the Philosophical level and then gets down to the Tactical and Logistical level and then the study is reduced to a Simplified performance matrix (Anonymous, Models, n.d). Gordons Front End Analysis Model: Gordon, S. (1994)  Systematic Training Program Design: Maximizing Effectiveness and Minimizing Liability. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. This model identifies the unavailability of resources or any faulty shortcomings. Gordons Front End Analysis Model can be used to document and analyze an individuals performance and cannot be extended to the societal or organization level (Anonymous, Models, n.d). Darraughs Six step Model: (Darraugh, B. 1991. It takes six.(six step model). Training and development journal, v45, n3, p21) The Six step model is very much similar to the Rossetts Training needs assessment model. Darraugh provides a set of fifteen question for conducting the assessment. These questions orient towards the needs but are not determine the link to the societal, organizational or individual accomplishments. Therefore this model does not provide complete guidance in conducting the needs assessment (Anonymous, Models, n.d). Ostroff and Fords Levels Perspective Model: (Ostroff, C. Ford, J.K, 1989, Assessment training needs: Critical levels of analysis) This model is based on the three content areas, Organizational, Task and Person given by Mc Gehee and Thayer. Ostroff and Fords model elevated the model to the next level by introducing a Levels dimension, which includes Organizational sub-units and Individual. Twenty seven discreet analyses can be carried out based on the similarities and differences between each level. This model is considered to cover almost every possible theory (Anonymous, Models, n.d). Hannum and Hansens Needs Analysis Model: (Hannum, W. Hansen, C. 1989, Instructional systems development in large organizations) Their model supports a top-down, Societal needs assessment. Their model can be used to examine only an individuals performance and can be used to document the process insufficiencies. The model is strong on the research methods and helps to collect hard as well as soft data (Anonymous, Models, n.d). Johnsons Training Requirements Model: (Johnson, D. 1996, Take two classes and call me in the morning: the case for training wellness) Johnsons Training Requirement Model focuses majorly on the Training requirements planning. It does not focus on the performance problems. The model utilizes the Market Survey to identify the desired training programs. Based on the survey, the requirements are to be Defined and Analyzed. The evaluation continues with short-term and long-term feedback (Anonymous, Models, n.d). All the above models are used widely. Analysis and the collected data is used to provide soulution, this are the major purpose of the above mentioned models of needs assessment. Reason for Needs Assessment The major reasons behind using Needs Assessment are as follows: Gives us the information of what will be accomplished. Expected changes in performance. Tactical solutions/requirements Economics involved (Stout, 1995) Any kind of developmental initiative needs a lot of money to be invested. Some organizations tend to implement a solution in a hurry without considering whether they are the correct intervention. This will result in heavy losses, especially if it involves huge capital or operational expenditures. Organizational development programs are one such solution that needs a thorough analysis before any intervention is carried out. A wrong solution can result in loss of lot of money and at times destabilize the working atmosphere (Stout, 1995) Process of Needs Assessment According to Stout. D (1995) the needs assessment is carried out as a Four Step Process Step 1: Perform a GAP analysis: Performing a gap analysis is the first stepping stone in performing needs assessment. Actual performance of the organization is checked and compared with the theoretical standards set already. This step involves, Analyzing the current situation: The current goals, internal and external constraints, environment and knowledge of the employees are determined. In short as the same suggests it analyzes the current overall situation of the organization. The desired situation: The desired conditions for the organizational and personal success needs to be identify. Jobs/tasks, the knowledge, skills and abilities required to attain that goal are the prime focus of this analysis. Gap between the current situation and the desired outcomes are identified once this step is completed. As we perform the GAP analysis, we look for the problems or deficits, impending charges, opportunities, strengths and different mandates such as government or foreign policies. SWOT analysis provides us with the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats. Whereas, the PEST analysis provides us an insight into the Political, Economical, Social and Technological factors (Stout, 1995). Step 2: Identifying Priorities and Importance: The next step begins with the analysis of the collected data. Depending on the importance of the need which was achieved by step 1 the concerns are prioritized. Example: Legal mandates and Cost effectiveness becomes a priority compared to the Executive pressures. We have to focus on those needs that have more value and will have a great impact (Stout, 1995). Step 3: Identifying opportunities: Major concerns and the development/improvement opportunities are indentified once the needs are prioritized. Solution for specific needs has to be analyzed in this step. This step involves a detailed investigation and analysis at the organizational and individual level. This step not only enables the organization to handle the current situation but also prepares it for the future (Stout, 1995). Step 4: Implementation of solutions and growth opportunities: This is the final step and it involves the implementation of the solutions for the specific issues. Some of the solutions that can be implemented are, Training program: Programs such as one on one or group coaching, Mentoring, Classroom, Video learning, Workshops, Active learning, Vendor course, CBT etc. are considered as alternatives for solutions. Organizational Development program Organizational Programs include, Strategic planning exercises, Organizational restructuring, Performance management and effective team building are the different alternatives which are highlighted as solution alternates (Stout, 1995). Advantages and Disadvantages of Needs Assessment The table below summarizes the key advantages and disadvantages of major methods of assessing training and performance needs. The table below is used from (McCoy, McCoyTraining.com, n.d) which explains the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of needs assessment. Method Advantages Disadvantages Organizational Documents à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Provide relevant, quantifiable data à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Fast à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Inexpensive à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May built management Involvement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Dont build employee involvement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Not necessarily focused on HRD à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May not identify causes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May not provide visibility Questionnaire and Surveys à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Reach many people in short time à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Build involvement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Relatively inexpensive à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Yield relevant, quantifiable data that are easy to summarize à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Anonymity may encourage Honesty à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Require time and skill to develop à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Low response rates or inaccurate responses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ No opportunity to clarify à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May restrict freedom of response à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May lead to unrealistic expectation Group Interviews à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Build involvement and support à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Provide relevant data à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Provide visibility à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May elicit key topics not expected à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ On-the-spot sharing synthesis of different view à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Moderately time-consuming (but less so than individual interviews) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Moderately expensive à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Difficult to conduct à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May be difficult to analyze and quantify data Individual Interviews à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Build involvement and support à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Allow for clarification à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Provide relevant data à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Easier to conduct than group interviews à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May uncover information that wouldnt be brought up in a group à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Expensive in terms of time and travel costs à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Require interviewing skills à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May be difficult to analyze and quantify results à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May make interviewees self-conscious Advisory Committees à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Build management involvement and sponsorship à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Provide visibility à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Inexpensive à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Allows synthesis of opinions of key decision-makers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Can help identify resource à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Time-consuming and difficult to manage logistically à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Fails to build lower-level employee involvement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Poor source of quantifiable data à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May lead to groupthink or turf war Observation of Work Situations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Builds employee involvement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Provides excellent information when coaching an individual à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Builds your credibility à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Generates relevant, quantifiable data à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May provide excellent stories à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Requires a skilled observer à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Does not involve management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Time-consuming à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May change performance or be perceived as spying à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May be logistically difficult Benchmarking and Independent Research à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn from industry leaders and competitors à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Can build your credibility à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Availability of free data on internet à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Avoid rediscovering what is know à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Does not build involvement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ May not be directly relevant à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Data from different organizations may be misleading à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Requires significant Analysis Table 1: Advantages and Disadvantages of Needs Assessment, Adapted from Managing a Small HRD Department, by Carol P. McCoy. McCoy Training and Development Resources, 1993, p. 23. Needs Assessment as a tool for Consulting Practice and Critique for Best Practices Methods of needs assessment can be classified into seven main types, each of which can take many different forms in practice. The different types of needs assessment approaches are as follows: Gap or discrepancy approach Reflection on action Peer review Observation Critical incident review Practice review Learning for needs (Grant, 2001) According to Grant (2001) Peer review is rapidly becoming a favorite method for needs assessment. Grants report was accepted in 2001 by the National Center for Biotechnological Information. In peer review doctors assess each others practice and give feedback and perhaps advice about possible education, training or organizational strategies to improve performance. Internal, external, informal, multidisciplinary and physician assessment are the five different type of peer review described in a good CPD guide. (Grant, 2001). However this peer review method for needs assessment comes with ample of drawbacks. Some of these drawbacks are mentioned below: Double Blind system is rarely used due to its impracticality. Reputation of the author always have some impact on the way others judged the paper this is the most common accusation made. An uncontroversial and poor paper written by an established researcher pass the review process whereas an excellent paper written by a new and upcoming scientist can be rejected (Anonymous, Disadvantages of Peer review, 2008). Editors posses lots of decision making power who are very well connected by the author and referee. At times these authority possessed by the editors is misused. Many times their lots of omission by the editors and therefore, editors are often accused of arbitrarily rejecting manuscripts before they reach their readers (Anonymous, Disadvantages of Peer review, 2008). Source of the researchers funding is one of the major conflicts of interest which needs to be spotted by the peer reviewers. However, the research is accepted if it follows all the researching protocols (Anonymous, Disadvantages of Peer review, 2008). Peer reviews have no grading system and different journals have their own standards. This makes it difficult to rank and judge the expertise and quality of the editors and reviewers (Anonymous, Disadvantages of Peer review, 2008). A consultant is hired by a company either during a time of distress or simply to improve an existing system. Very often it is due to the peer nature of the issue that an external source is required to solve it. A consultant has a lot of pressure to solve the problems that he/she has been asked to look into. A Needs Assessment provides the consultant with insights to what he/she is going to deal with. A thorough needs analysis is essential for a large-scale learning initiative to succeed.   Needs assessment  consultants will seamlessly work with your company to interview subject matter experts and other key stakeholders, diagnose the learning gaps and help you specify learning objectives that support your business goals. Consultation is a very tricky job. When a consultant is asked to address an issue, the credibility of that consultant is at stake. Since the money involved is high, an organization expects the intervention to work wonders for them. It is the consultants job to collect the required information by using a technique that suits the organization and also the issue that is dealt with. An issue can range from sales decline to rebellious employees to scandals. The test of choice depends upon the situation. A questionnaire can be used among the employees to get information about a sales drop, but a personal interview or focus group is required to address an issue such as a rebellion or a scandal. The best practices that should be followed by the consultants with regard to prove efficient and effective for its clients are as follows: First of all the consultants need to familiarize themselves with the work environment and the culture of its clients before deciding on the method of research. The consultants need to have a different perception of its clients. Being bias would impact the performance and would hamper to analyze the problem effectively. While conducting interviews the consultants need to give enough space to the informants so that they could gather as much information as possible. Once the informants are comfortable the core of the problem could be identified. Proper mind mapping and stake holder analysis also gives a clear picture about the client and may help in further analysis of distortion which may be the reason of the clients issues. The questionnaires should be easy to understand and should not lead to conclusions. In addition, the consultants need to avoid use of buzz words and should simplify the question for easy and better understanding of the participants. I would like to conclude that needs assessment is one of the most important tools for the consultants as it helps for evaluate the situation and gives an insight of the organization. Needs assessment forms the foundation for resolving clients problems as it helps to reach the core of the problem instead of artificial makeovers. The outcome of the consultants intervention has tremendous impact due to the approach, method or techniques used for needs assessment. It is the nervous system which helps to rectify the cause of distorted heart beat of the organizations body.

Organisational Equality and Diversity: Māori and Non-Māori

Organisational Equality and Diversity: MÄ ori and Non-MÄ ori Lonita M. Tejano INTRODUCTION According to Lis Ellison-Loschmann (April 2006), outlined the benefits of health care status of the native peoples worldwide relevant to the underlying historical, socio-economic and political processes. The Maoris and non-Maoris health care status in the time of colonization by the British in New Zealand. The differences involve a variety factors in terms of accessibility of health care and racism. Improvement to the access to care is critical to address health disparities and increased information of Maoris and non-Maoris in terms of primary and secondary health care services. Alternatively according to the recent study Lis Ellison- Loschmann (April 2006) they use 2 principles on how Maori people improved their health care services seeking to improve health and quality of life for Maoris. According to Ramsden (1997), health status of indigenous peoples a variety factors that effect of historical, political, and social characteristics of environments their relation with the nonindig enous populations of the countries they lived. They direct on the health concepts of this common society in the effects on Maori health care services assemble in regard to their attitudes toward and social life of non-Maori population. Based on Lis Ellison-Loschmann (2006 April) outlined the benefits of life expectancy in New Zealand in this two group of people. They have a big impact in health care promoting and minimizing the indifferences that has been observed and seen by the researchers lately. According to Lis Ellison- Loschmann (2006 April) observed that Maori health in the country of New Zealand’s during the British colonization can give information in health status between the Maori ad non-Maori indifference. The government play the important role to access health care facility. The government provide two possible principle on how to promote the quality and easy way to access health care for the indigenous people firstly, how to develop the health care principle to the services secondly, and initiation of cultural safety education. BODY In a recent study, King (2003) showed that the Treaty of Waitangi and settlement that the Maoris in Aotearoa from the Pacific about 1000 years ago. According to Pool (1991) informing maybe a hundred of indigenous people arrived in New Zealand on the period of time some stories said that subsequent settlement patterns and become larger population from different version of information like verbal information and demographics recording. The expedition of James cook’s in 1769 the first encounter recorded to the Maori people and European settlers to New Zealand. Meanwhile, during the signing of Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 there was a written agreement between the Maori people protection of interest for the invaders and British settlements and they gather together with some of the Maori chiefs and representative of British crown. In this time there was 80 000 Maori population and 2000 settlers. After the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi a huge group of British immigrant and Maori population become decreased and settlers doubled the population. In 1901 New Zealand population significantly reduced to 770 313 settlers whereas the Maoris by 16.5:1.3. Based on Purie (1998) indicated that the British settlers introducing to the Maori people like the infectious diseases and the usage of guns there is major impact to mortality rates to Maoris population. Furthermore, historically the socioeconomic of Maori mortality rate after invading New Zealand the most important thing the Maoris’ loss of land, mortality rate increased from the disease to the extent among those indigenous peoples who wanted to keep their lands. By this time there was a big changes to their economic status like food supplies, and social networking as a whole country. According to Purie(1998) observed that from the land confiscation from the Maori population there was a huge impact of the legislation law like the Maori rights not used language in school as Maori which lead to disparities to health in Maori society. Based to Te Ropu Rangahau a Euro Pomare (2000) found that it has been argument that has been continued a differences in indigenous and non-Maori i n health care sectors and rights of indigenous community not being treated and protected by the said treaty of social, cultural, economic, and political factors cannot be noticed in terms contributory to their health care status as a whole. However, the Maori self-determinant to seek help for health. Based on Pool (1991) in addition to that, Maori health status in New Zealand the government started implementing health care services to Maori community provide services like health promotion programs, health inspectors to work and help gradually to the economy recovery. At this time decreases in mortality rate due to implementation of national health care scheme and community welfare system by the given year 1938 through the treatment methods. Maori community lived in rural areas then they moved to urban for employment opportunities in these areas subsequently led to big population to urban migration. According to Pool (1991) indicated that significantly changes in this country’s economy from their usual way of life like cultivating lands to producing manufactured goods. Due to According to Kunitz (1994) life span significantly increased among native groups of people in this country and western world including neighboring country like Australia, whole part of Unites States of America and Canada on this given time. In comparison of the nonindigenous populations of these countries. During this period of time population become reduced due to diseases like respiratory from the changing of weather, tuberculosis and hepatitis, heart diseases due sedentary lifestyles and diabetes, different types of cancer and accident like vehicular injuries due to reckless driving much higher among Maoris than non-Maoris. A recent study (Ajwani, Blakely, Robson, Tobias Bonne, 2003) mortality rates decreased as a period of time, in regard to the differences between the two groups of people in New Zealand still the same. Based on Te Ropu Rangahau Hanuora (2000) an explanations for health disparities are numbered and said not being equal in terms of health among the two groups of people in New Zealand some said that inequalities is that genetic underlying factors influenced. Nevertheless, not significantly to race and ethnic group that genetic factors about 85%. There are factors contributed to the disparities between Maori and non-Maori like lifestyle in each individual group, the socioeconomic like not having a good job and proper place to live and easy access to health care facility and racism. The explanations are not significant but it is useful to consider them as a precipitating factors that influenced that they linked together. The first studies to help to determine the significant role of socio-economic factors and health status in two group of people there was a research about the mortality rate in men at aged of 15-64 years. Based on Sporle, Pearce, Davis (2002) found that in the most recent years researchers said that Maori men doubled the figure unlikely to non-Maori men at the very young age maybe due to socioeconomic status as a whole and ethnical social community differs the mortality rate among this group of men. A good example the level assessments of socioeconomic deprivation by the usage of census data by the New Zealand deprivation Index. Russell, Parnell, Wilson (1999) found that smoking is a lifestyle factors that can lead to socioeconomic influence to health status. Furthermore, give more importance to consider the difference between Maori and non-Maori in their own lifestyles. The latest survey by the national said that Maori smoke tobacco is higher rate than non-Maoris (53% vs. 20%).Maori men and women are obese and they have some diseases like hypertension due to sedentary lifestyles. According to Lurie (2004) observed that the access to health care is very important role to decrease mortality rate of Maori the root of this ailments promoting effective health care accessible to this group of people. In this idea access to health has been described in terms of both â€Å"access to† and â€Å"access through† health care principles making a quality of health care services that being taken by. United States of America developed a framework for measuring disparities to access health care need of people and promoting quality of service that will includes broader environmental and societal factors example is racism that can effect to access to health care needs. A recent study (Sporle et al., 1991) found that in past 20 years being discriminated and racist is very alarming in health care settings tendency minority people will not seek health care services in the primary health care facility . The Maori Asthma reported that those educated and an educated health care workers to the illness contributed to the Maori people reluctant to seek medical care for their illness until if necessary. According to Krieger (2003) observed that Maori has bad experience first encounters with health care professionals and disempowerment like to access the checking blood sugar to distinguish diabetes diseases. According to Matherson (1992) in addition, to change in health environment to New Zealand’s country the government formulated in 1930s to provide free medical care given by working medical professionals. Thus, health care system specified subsidiary to a government facility services with a secondary care controlled funding whilst in primary care funded by individual doctors. However, Maori initiates concerned on how to promote health care access to their peoples firstly, to provide Maori health care services secondly, the development of cultural safety education. The Maori health care provider’s initiative beyond the services implemented. When the time which being implemented there was a problem with budget of the government funding. In 1991 health reforms being implemented to the development of Maori health care services provider. Blaiklock AJ., Ciro A., Davenfort E., Hassal IB.,Low W., they make reforms of health care and social services that can give more gap in ineq uality as a result of self-determination regarding to education, employment of the individual, types of housing and health status. In addition to that health reforms for Maori effect to health especially the children. According to Ramsden (2002) observed that cultural safety education is playing a golden role of Maoris health care services improvement like cultural safety being implemented to protect the health care professionals and evaluate the relationship between Maori community. Nursing and Midwifery body required Nurses and midwifery to take the registration examination in New Zealand. International Council of Nurses implemented the guidelines for cultural safety for nursing student and to practice all in 118 councils. CONCLUSION Therefore I conclude, disparities in health care status between Maoris and non-Maoris contributed most likely in British colonization in New Zealand. For the past 140 years ago there was an improvement as evidenced by the overall gap in life span between the two groups of people in New Zealand. Even though their differences include the variety influences in regard to socioeconomic and lifestyle factors and discrimination to seek health care delivery system. Maori society implement to improve health care access and have two principles to help between the development of Maori provider services and encouragement of the service through cultural safety education for the health care provider. It started with the people in the community how the response to the purpose like for instance the self-determinant of Maori community in health care services and to evaluate how to improve the health care services. The government of New Zealand provide organizations and cultural safety education an examples to initiates in the government policies that have been shown either for promotion or prevention to health status of indigenous peoples. REFERENCES Ajwani S, Blakely T, Robson B. Tobias M, Bonne M. Decades of Disparity: Ethnic Mortality Trends in New Zealand 1980-1999. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Health; 2003. Blaiklock AJ, Ciro CA, Belgrave M. Low W, Davenport E, Hassall IB. When the Invisible Hand Books the Cradle: New Zealand Children in a Time of change. Florence, Italy: Innocenti, Research Centre; 2002. Working Paper 93. King M. The Penguin History of New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books: 2003. Krieger N. Does racism harm health? Did child abuse exist before 1962? On explicit questions, critical science, and current controversies: an Eco social perspective. Am J Public Health. 2003; 93: 194-199. (PMC free article) (PubMed). Kuritz S J. Disease and Social Diversity: The European Impact on the Health of Non- Europeans. New York, NY: Oxford University Press Inc.; 1994. Lis Ellison- Loschmann, and Neil Pearce,: Improving Access to Health Care among New Zealand’s Maori Population. New Zealand. Doi: 10.2015/ AJPH. 2005.0707680 PMCID: PMC 1470538, Am J Public Health; 96 (4): 612-617, 2006. Lurie N. Measuring disparities in access to care. Available at: http://www.nap.edu/openbook/0309085195/html/1.html. Accessed January 8, 2004. Matheson D, ed. Health where it hurts: The story of the Newtown Union Health Science. Wellington, New Zealand: Roger Steele; 1992. Pool DI. Te iwi Maori: A New Zealand Population, Past, Present and Projected. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press; 1991. Purie M. Te Mana, te Kawanatanga: The Politics of Maori Self-Determination. Auckland, New Zealand: Oxford University Press Inc.; 1998. Ramsden I. Cultural Safety and Nursing Education in Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu (dissertation). Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington; 2002. Ramsden I. Culture safety: Implementing Concept. The social force of nursing and midwifery. In: Te Whaiti P, McCarthy M, Durie A, eds. Mai Rangiatea: Maori Wellbeing and Development. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press; 1997: 113-125. Russell D, Parnell W, Wilson N, et al. NZ food: NZ People. Key Results of the 1997 National Nutrition Survey. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Health; 1999. Sporle A, Pearce N, Davis P. Social class mortality differences in Maori and non-Maori aged 15-64 during the last two decades N Z Med J. 2002 ; 115 : 127-131 ( Pub Med). Te Ropu Rangahau Haura a Euro Pomare. Counting for nothing: understanding the issues in monitoring disparities inn health. Soc Policy J N Z .2000; 14:1-16.

term paper :: essays research papers

Notes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Interpersonal communication occurs within interpersonal relationships. Interpersonal relationship is the association of two people who are interdependent, they use consistent patterns of interaction, and who have interacted for a descended amount of time. There are two important interpersonal relationships, inclusion and control they both include involving others in the conversation. The difference is control is the ability to influence others, and inclusion is becoming involved with others (need for affection, or holding fond or tender feelings toward someone.) pg. 170 There is also symmetrical relationships with people mirror each other or are similar. There is a dark side to interpersonal relationships. Some may find that interpersonal relationships can be painful and negative. This includes obsession, fatal attraction, and jealousy. These can often cause abuse, sexual, physical, mental, and emotional. Also negative relationships include gossip, conflict, and codependency with can create harmful results to the relationship. Relational development is the process by which relationships grow. (important). There are five stages to interpersonal relationships; Initiating, experimenting, intensifying, integration, and bonding. Initiating is the beginning period of interaction. Experimenting is when two people have a clear understanding to find out more about each other. Intensifying involves active participation, mutual concern, and awareness of the developing relationship. Integrating is when people in the relationship start to mirror each others behavior. Bonding is the final stage when they commit to each other. Relational maintenance is very important because of the strategies that keep the relationship together. Massage characteristics can have many different meanings. Hurtful messages are messages that create emotional pain or upset, they can end the relationship. Deceptive communication is the practice of deliberately making someone believe things that are not true.

Stereotypes :: essays research papers

Meet Francesca Fine, also known as â€Å"The Nanny†. She is a very sexy woman with an equally sensual mind. She is very attracted to her handsome male employer, Throughout the show’s popular run, Ms. Fine pursues her employer and many other men, persistently. Never allowing â€Å"no† to be an answer. Ms Fine used her sexuality, in many ways, to get her way out of things such as parking tickets, IRS trouble, and out of plenty of things with her employer. Ms. Fine used her sexuality to the fullest and played her part as a sexually attractive woman well. You are probably wondering why TV’s â€Å"The Nanny† is so important. Well, it shows a most perfect example of gender stereotyping. Because women, stereotypically, can use their sexuality to get out of sticky situations and use it to carry out domestic professions such as a caregiver. It is my belief that there is nothing wrong with exercising your strengths as a woman and becoming an excellent chef a nd opening a successful restaurant. Or it is certifiable for a woman to use her good looks and charm to keep a police officer from writing a speeding ticket.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people would perceive that these are all illustrations of gender stereotypes, and with good reason. Women using their femininity, and in some cases abusing, to get their way or to obtain things that they would want could provide a bad name for women general. Not all females participate in these activities, and some may find the thought of them offensive and objectionable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Women are not the only victims of gender stereotyping, men are as well. Numerous people believe that men are the providers, the bacon bringers. The men are the ones who get up early in the morning, put on a suit, drink coffee, drive in traffic, work a nine-to-five, come home, watch TV, and go to bed. It is hard for some people to comprehend a man as a stay at home parent. It is for a fact that more and more men nowadays are crossing certain barriers of their sexuality. Until recently, men are becoming single parents, caregivers, nurses, almost all of the professions and positions that were dominated by women. Almost like a gender revolution.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In my belief, gender stereotypes do not have a negative affect on today’s society or me. These stereotypes are something we have grown to be accustomed to.

Mr. Padua

Mr.. Pad had been the management services director of the fruit puree division of his corporation. W/ professional experience gained from various industries, his technical expertise was undoubtedly quite valuable to the corporation. He, however, has personal attitudes w/c created a wall of hostility between him & his staff and the rest of the senior managers of his dolls. For one thing, Mr.. Pad did not see any point in laughing at a joke w/c he did not consider funny. Fortunately, his standard to â€Å"funny† was in the line of erudite humor, w/c even the other directors found too deep for reflection. Neither did he believe in attempting to gain the drift of others if only to gain rapport w/ them. He insisted in being his own person regardless of what others believe. It was, also, rare for him to concede to anything. This attitude was compounded by his difficulty in expressing his thoughts especially when it came to Justifying himself.This caused misunderstandings between him and others w/c further aggravated his win negative perception of others as well as their negative perception of him. He could not give allowances for differences In his attitude w/ those of others. Ad those who differed from him, In one sense, were treated w/ a degree of coldness. He was aware of his social deficiencies, but, according to him he simply could not be what he was not. He often mentioned that it was already very hard for him to change his ways. Outside the work place, though, Mr..Pad tried hard to be friendly w/ his staff. And, while he showed concern for their professional training, he himself could not seem to be at ease in relating to them in the workplace. It was as if he was afraid that friendship would curtail his authority. At this time, a new problem solving system was being Inculcated throughout the corporation. To show his concern for his staff, he made them the first trainees on the system. The system was designed to enable a group to Identify a problem and recommend a solution throughout the various stages of the system.The group was placed under he guidance of training assistants from the personnel directorate ensuring the objectivity of results. The exercise w/ his staff identified three difficulties in their workplace, one of which concerned Mr.. Pad. The recommended solution was to replace him. Needless to say, this put top management in a dilemma. Mr.. Pad was an officer of the company, and to continue to attract talent to officers, his tenure had to be protected. Besides, the problem focused on Mr.. Pad's personality. How exactly does one correct that?He had already attended Dale Carnage's course. On the other hand, faith In the system they were endorsing was being put to the test. If they could not support Its results now, how could they expect anyone to believe Its merits? Study Guides: 1. Describe the personality of Mr.. Pad. How Is this reflected In his communication style? 2. How was this style affected his relationship w/ his associates and Defend your stand. 4. What implication does the case have on management policies and practices on hiring and developing workers and staff?

Customer Value and Superior Performance Essay

trade Orientation, node shelter, and Superior Performance Stanley F. slater and John C Narver Thinking in terms of the trade (not tradeing) is essential in the highiy free-enterprise(a) benas of at present, o achieve pucka performance, a business essentialiness condition and sustain matched advantage. But where competitive advantage was at once base on structural characteristics such(prenominal) as market power, economies of scale, or a broad convergence line, the emphasis today has shifted to capabilities that enable a business to consistently deliver master copy grade to its guests. This, after in all(prenominal), is the meaning of competitive advantage.Our recent re front shows that a market-oriented coating provides a solid giveation for these prise-creating capabilities. A business is market-oriented when its refinement is systemati birdsongy and all in all committed to the continuous creation of topnotch node observe. Specifically, this entails c ollecting and coordinating training on guests, competitors, and some other signifi roll in the hayt market influencers (such as regulators and suppliers) to use in create that pry (see Figure 1). The three major(ip) comp singlents of market preference course+ustomer orientation course course, competitor concentrate, and cross- attendal coordination- ar long-term in vision and profit-driven.Based on extensive interviews with managers and executives, Kohli and Jaworski (1990) conclude that market orientation provides a unifying focus for the efforts and projects of soulfulnesss, thereby leading to banner performance. A create stream of empirical enquiry has found a whole relation- T channelize amidst market orientation and some(prenominal) measures of business performance, including profitability. customer retention, sales growth, and in the buff yield success. Customer Orientation The feeling of a market orientation is its customer focus.To create superior val ue for vendees perpetually requires that a seller understand a vendees entire value chain, not only as it is today but also as it evolves everywhere magazine. Buyer value can be created at whatever extremum in the chain by making the buyer either to a greater extent effective in its markets or more efficient in its operations. A market-oriented business understands the cost and r change surfaceue enhancement dynamics not only of its speedy target buyers but also of all markets beyond, for demand in the speedy and upriver markets is derived from the demand in the original d throwriver markets.Therefore, a market-driven business develops a spherewide understanding of its customers business and how customers in the immediate and downstream markets perceive value. Employees of market-oriented businesses spend significant time with their customers. Managers and employees end-to-end the business call on their customers or bring them into their own facilities in a constant s earch for immature ways to satisfy their needs.For example, Ih Pont has highly-developed a program called Adopt a Customer that encourages a blue-collar doer to visit a customer once a month, learn the customers needs, and be the customer representative on the factory floor. grocery store-driven businesses endlessly monitor their customer commitment by making im- be customer satisfaction an current objective. To halt the relationships that are critical to delivering superior customer value, they pay close attention to service, twain before and after sales.Because of the importance of employees in this effort, these businesses take great care to code and retain the best good deal useable and provide them with regular training. Some businesses even involve their customers in hiring, training, and developing concussion people as well as in making motivation and give back system decisions. Involving customers in these key areas forges strong customer loyalty. ogy development . Top managers frequently talk about competitors strategies to develop a shared purview on probable sources of competitive threats.A reason for the success of many Nipponese companies is that they train managers to understand that competitive cognizance is part of everyones job. Using this breeding, marketdriven businesses a good deal target opportunities for competitive advantage base on competitors weaknesses. In any case, they observe competitors from developing an advantage by responding promptly or anticipating their actions. Inter die hardai Coordination Competitor Focus The deuce-ace of the three core components of a marCreating superior customer value requires more ket orientation is the coordination of personnel than just focusing on customers.The key quesand other resources from throughout the comtions are which competitors, and what technolopany to create value for buyers. Any point in the gies, and whether target customers perceive them buyers value chain is an luck for a seller as counterchange satisfiers. Superior value requires that to create value for the buyer potent. This means the seller reveal and understand the principal that any individual in any berth in a seller firm competitors short strengths and weaknesses can probablyly go to value creation.As and long-term capabilities and strategies. For Michael Porter (1985) explains example, a team of Marriott employees sparked the country for six months, staying in economy Every department, facility, pitchfork office, hotels and collecting information about their and other organizational unit has a single-valued function facilities and services. Armed with this informathat must be delimitate and understood. All tion about potential competitors strengths and employees, regardless of their distance weaknesses, Marriott invested $500 million in a from the strategy formulation process, sunrise(prenominal) hotel chain.Fairfield Inn, its budget market must jazz their functio n in helping a entry, achieved an occupancy rate 10 points firm achieve and sustain competitive higher(prenominal) than the industry average in one year. advantage. A seller should adopt a chess-game perspective of its current and principal potential competiTo accomplish this, effective companies hold back tors. Moreover, it should continuously examine developed horizontal structures that focus on the competitive threats they pose, inferring these building value, such as time-to-market for new threats from intent and value-creation capabilities.This is crucial information to a seller in developFigure 1 ing its contingency competitive trade Orientation strategies. In one case, HewlettPackard headstrong to accelerate the Inter operational announcement of a new computer Information Assessment encyclopaedism peripheral after discovering through its travel agency that a pertain had schedule conference rooms around the country for a specific date. Knowing that this rival had a simi lar product in development, H-I- rushed its announcement and beat the opposition to the market. In market-driven businesses, employees from all functions share information concerning competitors.For example, it is crucial for R&D to bring forth information acquired by the sales convention about the pace of a competitors technol- Customer InformationCompetitor Information d Coordinated Superior Customer Value Other Market Information Market Orientation. Customer Value, and Superior Performance 23 products. They manage projects through small multifunctional teams that can move more quickly and well than businesses that use the tradtional function-by-function, sequential approach. For example, cross-functional teams call on customers to identify additional opportunities for value creation. design becomes mingled during preliminary market research to help marketers understand what is feasible. Production is involved during product design to ensure that the product can be manufactur ed at a reasonable cost. Engineers and production people constantly discuss their capabilities and limitations with sales and merc lapseising so capabilities can be leveraged and limitations avoided when promoting products or sewices. When all functions contribute to creating buyer value this way, more creativity is brought to bear on increasing effectiveness and efficiency for customers.Does This pie-eyed the Marketing Department Is in consecrate? Shapiro (1988) tells the anecdote of a troupe chief executive officer explaining to top managers that because of increasing competition, the business needful to become more market-oriented. With that encouragement the selling vice president jumped in, Ive been construction all on we need to be more trade-oriented. Marketing has to be more involved in everything Ixcause we represent the customer and we have an integrated view of the company. At that point the CEO snarled. I say more ma&et-oriented. not 177arketin-oriented. That boloney is very epresentative of our experience with marketing orientation as well. A marketing orientation implies an emphasis on the marketing function that whitethorn not be appropriate. Customer value is created by core capabilities throughout the entire organization. Whereas Procter and Gambles competitive advantage may be based on I core marketing capability, 3Ms advantage is innovation ordinances is technology. This does not make 3M or Canon any less market-oriented than Procter and Gamlle. Because market-driven port permeates multiple functions at 3M and Canon, they may be more market-oriented and less marketing-oriented.In our view, lvhen a business achieves the objective of developing a pervasive market orientation, the marketing function may become lessnot more-important, because all functions are dedicated to creating and delivering customer value. This is consistent with Regis McKennas (1991) notion that Marketing is everything and everything is marketing. Webster ( 1992) foresees a time when marketing specialists will become more and more rare while marketing as a superior general attention function becomes more important. This is the result of a general focus on cross- unctional cooperation, which causes innate functional boundaries to lose meaning. GEs 1990 yearly Report puts it this way In a boundary-less company, internal functions begin to blur. Engineering doesnt design a product, then hand it off to manufacturing. They form a team, along with marketing and sales, finance, and the rest. Customer service? Its not somebodys job. Its everybodys job. However, for businesses that currently have an internal orientation on production or research and development, the marketing department may have to take the lead role in encouraging marketoriented thinking throughout the firm.As the primary boundary between the business and its markets, marketing is managements window on the world (Holver and Garda 1985). Because it is mutually beneficial o n other functional areas for the incidentally and efficient development, production, and delivery of the product, marketing is likely to be the first function that full appreciates the benefits of market orientation. To maximize its effectiveness. marketing must demonstrate the benefits of market-driven behavior to top management and to other functions. Marketing may have a key role in the development and maintenance of a culture that is truly arket-oriented The crux is that the responsibility for superior buyer value is beyond that of any one function. Creating value for buyers is analogous to a symphony orchestra in which all members contribute according to a general jut and in which the contribution of each subgroup is tailored and integrated by a conductor-with a synergistic effect. A seller must draw upon and integrate effectively all of its human and other resources in an ongoing effort to create superior ,alue for buyers at a profit. This coordinated integration of company resources builds directly on both customer and competitor analysis.